After a tense two-week wait, CBSE and ICSE board students heaved a sigh of relief on Monday after the Bombay High Court quashed the government's move to introduce 90% reservation for state board SSC students in junior colleges.
The court set aside the 90:10 scheme introduced by a government resolution on June 18 holding that by reserving a major chunk of seats for SSC students the government had created an "artificial classification" for which it had no reason. "Students form a homogenous class," held chief justice Swatanter Kumar and Justice SC Dharmadhikari.
"We have realised one thing for sure that all boards (SSC and Non-SSC) are equally good," the judges said. They added that the 90:10 formula"ousts" non-SSC board students from top colleges. Criticising the government move for lacking cogent reasoning and data to back it, the judges observed that statutory bodies are not expected to act in this way in matters that will affect the future of students.
The judges while dictating their order in a central courtroom of the chock-a-block with students of both the SSC and the non-SSC boards, their parents, teachers, an army of lawyers and journalists, said that, "Excellence in education is paramount."The court also questioned the state government's power to issue a GR of this nature. The court said that the government does not have the executive power to bring about such a reservation without consulting the board, that is a statutory body.
The court said the decision of the state government also violated the Bombay High Court judgment in the percentile case of last year. Despite the directions given in the percentile judgment, the court felt that the state government had repeated "the same illegalities and irregularities" citing that injustice was been done to SSC students.
The court set aside the 90:10 scheme introduced by a government resolution on June 18 holding that by reserving a major chunk of seats for SSC students the government had created an "artificial classification" for which it had no reason. "Students form a homogenous class," held chief justice Swatanter Kumar and Justice SC Dharmadhikari.
"We have realised one thing for sure that all boards (SSC and Non-SSC) are equally good," the judges said. They added that the 90:10 formula"ousts" non-SSC board students from top colleges. Criticising the government move for lacking cogent reasoning and data to back it, the judges observed that statutory bodies are not expected to act in this way in matters that will affect the future of students.
The judges while dictating their order in a central courtroom of the chock-a-block with students of both the SSC and the non-SSC boards, their parents, teachers, an army of lawyers and journalists, said that, "Excellence in education is paramount."The court also questioned the state government's power to issue a GR of this nature. The court said that the government does not have the executive power to bring about such a reservation without consulting the board, that is a statutory body.
The court said the decision of the state government also violated the Bombay High Court judgment in the percentile case of last year. Despite the directions given in the percentile judgment, the court felt that the state government had repeated "the same illegalities and irregularities" citing that injustice was been done to SSC students.